They Were Fired Up! Naruto and Sasuke's Devilish Special Training!

Bang!

Yoru leaped down from a ten-meter platform, crashing into the center of the training ground like a cannonball.

Dust billowed everywhere. The two brats who had been tugging at each other's collars on the field were jolted into falling flat on their butts at the same time.

Yoru could not be bothered with nonsense. He grabbed each of them by the back of the collar and lifted them up like chicks.

"Uncle Yoru! Let go of us!"

Uzumaki Naruto, his blond hair flying wildly as he flailed in midair, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I was just about to beat Sasuke flat with the taijutsu I just learned!"

"Shut up, dead last."

Uchiha Sasuke, dangling beside him, snorted coldly and brushed the dust from his clothes.

"If Big Brother Yoru hadn't suddenly jumped down, my Fire Style would've already singed off your eyebrows."

Without the suffocating exclusion of the Leaf Village, and without the blood-soaked hatred of an entire clan's massacre.

These two chosen sons, raised in the Hidden Stone Village, had become the closest of friends—and the fiercest rivals.

"All right, quit blowing hot air in front of me."

Yoru casually tossed them onto the ground, a "kind" smile curling across his lips.

"You're tired of communal meals, so starting today, I'll be giving you two some private lessons."

The two seven- or eight-year-old boys exchanged glances, and their eyes immediately lit up.

"Private lessons? Are you going to teach us those super-powerful ninjutsu that can shave off mountaintops?" Naruto sprang up excitedly.

"I'll teach you. Of course I will."

Yoru snapped his fingers, and a golden figure immediately stepped out from behind him.

Minato Namikaze wore a black combat uniform and idly tossed a specially made Flying Raijin kunai in his hand.

"Naruto, for a while now, Dad will be treating you to the highest standard of real combat."

Minato smiled as warmly as a spring breeze, but Naruto instinctively shuddered.

Ignoring Naruto's terror, Yoru turned and walked over to Sasuke.

Smack!

A talisman paper covered in strange runes was mercilessly slapped onto Sasuke's back by Yoru.

Boom—

Sasuke felt his shoulders sink, as though a massive boulder had suddenly been placed upon him!

His legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees with a thud. His hands braced desperately against the ground as cold sweat instantly poured out.

"Fivefold Gravity Seal."

Yoru looked down at him, his tone icy and devoid of his usual easygoing manner as the friendly older brother next door.

"Bear it, concentrate your chakra at your fingertips, and cut this leaf. No food until you can."

A weightless leaf drifted down before Sasuke.

Sasuke clenched his teeth so hard they nearly shattered. Every bone in his body creaked, yet he did not make a sound.

He stared fixedly at the leaf. The three tomoe in his eyes spun wildly as he forcibly drew upon the stagnant chakra within his body.

"As expected of an Uchiha. You've got tough bones."

Yoru nodded in satisfaction before turning toward the other side.

Bang!

Naruto was sent flying like a tattered sack by one of Minato's roundhouse kicks, rolling seven or eight times across the ground.

"Too slow! Wind Style isn't for blowing breezes—it's for turning chakra into blades!"

Yoru shouted as he flicked out three Wind-nature kunai, which nailed themselves into the wall while grazing Naruto's scalp.

"If your reaction had been another tenth of a second slower, your head would've blossomed!"

Naruto bared his teeth in pain, but from the corner of his eye, he spotted Sasuke in the distance enduring the gravity, faint lightning already flickering from his fingers.

"Damn it... I absolutely can't lose to that smug Sasuke!"

The blond brat roared and sprang up from the ground. Two flames of unyielding determination burned in his blue eyes.

Thus began the Hidden Stone Village's most brutal devilish training.

There was no rest and no comfort.

Only relentless pushing toward the brink of death.

These two boys were born competition maniacs.

To keep Naruto's taijutsu from catching up, Sasuke endured the Gravity Seal and forcibly trained his Lightning-nature chakra into the rudimentary form of Chidori.

To catch up with Sasuke's speed, Naruto was beaten senseless by Minato and Yoru every day, forcefully raising the sharpness of his Wind Style by three whole levels.

Their strength skyrocketed exponentially at a terrifying pace that shattered all conventional understanding of the shinobi world!

Half a month later.

The combat training grounds in the back mountains of the Hidden Stone Village.

"Today, we'll test the results of your extra lessons."

Yoru leaned against a tree trunk and casually tossed down a coin.

"The usual rules. Whoever falls first loses."

The instant the coin hit the ground.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two afterimages vanished from the spot in an instant!

Clang! Clang!

Piercing collisions of metal exploded through the air in rapid succession, scattering sparks everywhere.

Sasuke's counterattack was sharp and lethal.

Rather than stubbornly meeting Naruto head-on with cumbersome taijutsu, he used the Sharingan's perception to accurately predict Naruto's landing point.

Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!

Sasuke's hands flew through seals in midair, moving so fast that only afterimages could be seen.

More than a dozen blazing fireballs sealed off every route of Naruto's retreat, crashing down like an inescapable net.

"Damn it!"

Naruto was in midair, with his old momentum exhausted before new strength could emerge.

He could only cross his arms before his chest and attempt to withstand the scorching attack head-on.

"It's over, dead last!"

A victorious sneer curled over Sasuke's lips.

His right hand abruptly pulled tight on the transparent wire hidden among the fireballs, instantly binding Naruto tightly.

The sea of flames completely swallowed that flash of gold.

"Nicely done. Sasuke's tactical thinking is already no worse than a jonin's."

Standing beside Yoru, Minato generously praised his old friend's son, though he secretly worried for Naruto.

Just as everyone believed the victor had been decided.

"Raaaargh—!!!"

A beastlike, violent roar suddenly tore out from the center of the flames!

The surrounding temperature shot upward, and the air instantly became unbearably oppressive.

It was as though some indescribable, terrifying beast was crawling out of hell.

Boom!

The flames trapping Naruto were forcibly blasted apart by a visible wave of dark-red energy!

The tough steel wires corroded and melted apart like plastic the moment they touched that red energy.

Sasuke's expression changed drastically. Instinctively, he retreated more than a dozen meters in a flash.

His three-tomoe Sharingan stared fixedly ahead, and for the first time, a trace of trembling flashed through his eyes.

Naruto was crouched halfway over the scorched earth, his entire body wrapped in a tangible cloak of dark-red chakra.

His once-clear blue eyes had become beastlike vertical pupils, glowing with a soul-shaking crimson light.

The three whisker marks on his cheeks had become thick and black, and sharp fangs had even grown from his mouth.

A red fox tail condensed entirely from pure chakra lashed and thrashed wildly behind him.

Unable to bear the immense pressure, the ground began cracking apart inch by inch.

The rubble within a hundred-meter radius actually lost its gravity, slowly floating into the air.

The Nine-Tails' chakra!

It had awakened!

"Naruto!"

Minato's face turned pale. He thought the Nine-Tails' seal had loosened and that his son was about to go berserk.

His figure flashed as golden chakra erupted around him, and he was about to rush forward to forcibly suppress it.

Smack.

A hand firmly landed on Minato's shoulder.

"What's the rush?"

At some point, Yoru had straightened up and stopped Minato, who was preparing to form hand seals.

He watched the dark-red little monster in the field radiating earth-shaking pressure, and a curve of anticipation slowly rose on his lips.

"There's no killing intent in that chakra. Only pure competitiveness."

A light that seemed to see through everything flickered in Yoru's eyes as he raised an eyebrow at Minato.

"The tsundere old fox is finally willing to pay rent. Let's watch the show first."